The Special Revelation of God

Transcript

GR 1139
11-29-98
The Special Revelation of God
Galatians 1:11, 12
Gil Rugh

Phillipians, chapter one. Paul wrote the letter to the Phillipians during his first Roman imprisonment, and in this letter he made reference to certain teachers who were preaching the gospel with a desire to exalt themselves and add to the burden of Paul’s imprisonment. Note verse 15 of Phillipians chapter one. “Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also (are preaching) from good will, the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; the former (those preaching from envy and strife) proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice.”

What I want you to note here is even though Paul has serious questions and doubts about the motives of these teachers in their preaching Christ, nonetheless, because they were preaching Christ, he rejoiced. And it’s evident that these teachers, even with wrong motives, were not corrupting the gospel or altering it in any way. And so Paul rejoices in the fact the gospel is preached and he is willing to leave the judging of their motives to be dealt with by God. And he addressed that issue in I Corinthians chapter four verses 1 – 5.

Now as you come back to Galatians, chapter one, we have found the situation to be different in the churches of Galatia. There, there are teachers who are preaching Christ but they are corrupting the message of Christ and so Paul cannot rejoice in the proclamation; rather he declares them to be under the curse of eternal condemnation in hell. These are Judaizers as we identify them and basically they proclaimed the truth concerning the person and work of Christ. According to passages like Acts 15 and verse 1, they said that it was also necessary to be circumcised to be saved. We’ll see as we move through Galatians, they also taught that you needed to keep at least portions of the law to live a life that was pleasing to God. In this, they were attacking the finished work of Christ, the sufficiency of His work; they were altering the gospel into something other that what Paul had preached. And so, at the end of verse 8 Paul said such a teacher is accursed. At the end of verse 9 he says he is to be accursed, anathema, meaning condemned to hell.

Peter said the same thing in his second letter, in chapter 3 and verse 16, he referred to the fact that untaught and unstable people were distorting the scriptures to their own destruction. They have come to the same end: destruction. They experienced the curse of God in condemnation to hell. Why? They are distorting the scriptures to their own destruction. In this we want to be careful. There may be personal differences and disagreements. We may have reason to doubt the motives of some in preaching and teaching Christ, but our serious conflict comes with those who in any way alter the word of God, make adjustments of any kind in the message that God has given. In fact in verse 10 of Galatians 1, Paul says that the evidence and demonstration of his faithfulness to Christ is his willingness to stand against those who would teach any other gospel. The way Paul puts it, if he would not stand against false teachers he would be a man pleaser; he could not be a slave of Christ.

Turn over to the book of Titus, chapter 1. Titus, chapter 1. Paul here is giving instructions regarding the spiritual leaders for the church, elders. And he says that an elder must be a man who is, in verse 9 of Titus 1, “holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching,” note this, “so that he will be able exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.” Spiritual leaders and spiritual teachers have a two-fold responsibility: to exhort in sound doctrine, and some would imply today that that is all of our responsibility and if we do that we have fulfilled our responsibility. But that is not the case. It is a very important part of our responsibility but the elders are responsible not only to exhort in sound doctrine but also to refute those who contradict.

Verse 10, “For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision,” Jews, and this would involve the Judaizers creating the same kind of problems that Paul is dealing with in his letter to the Galatians.
Note verse 11, these teachers “must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach.” So the church of Jesus Christ must be characterized by the proclamation of God’s truth and the condemnation of any who are teaching otherwise. If we do not do both we become guilty of being men pleasers and we cease to be servants of Jesus Christ.

Come back to Galatians, chapter 1. What Paul has done in verses 6 to 10 is get the attention of the Galatians by confronting them with the seriousness of their situation. They are in the process of deserting God. They are turning to a totally different kind of gospel than Paul preached. They are giving ear and attention to teachers who are under the curse of God. They are giving ear to those who are concerned with pleasing men rather than serving Christ.

Now, having gotten our attention with the seriousness of the issues he’s dealing with, he moves to unfold now some of the details. And verses 11 and 12 really establish the thesis that he will develop and explain, really through chapter 2, and, uh, through the rest of the letter in reality. What he’s establishing in verses 11 and 12 that the gospel he preached must be believed must be obeyed, must not be altered in any way because it wasn’t given by man. It was given by God. So any alterations or changes in the gospel are an attack on the very character of God. So we appreciate the seriousness of the matter in verses 11 and 12 of an unchanged gospel because it is a gospel that has been revealed from heaven by God. And any changes or alterations involve man setting himself above God. I make myself God’s editor. I make changes in what God has said. And that kind of attitude and action deserves the condemnation of God.

He begins verse 11 by saying, “For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.” “I would have you know.” This is an expression or a form here that Paul uses several times in his writings to express something that is of a serious nature that deserves their careful consideration. And he is reminding them of something that is not new. He’s visited the churches of Galatia as we have noted on all three of his missionary journeys. These are people who have sat under the ministry of the Apostle Paul repeatedly, who have been taught by him. But they needed reminded.

“I would have you know (something).” And he’s going to tell them something they already know that they have been told before. But they are in danger of forgetting it, not in the sense they couldn’t tell you the facts, but that they are not implementing it in their lives, putting it into practice in their churches. Sort of the way we would talk with our children, you’ve told them to do something, they didn’t do it. You’d start with a question. Didn’t I tell you, such and such? Well, you know you told them. They know you told them. The purpose of the question, for example, “Didn’t I tell you?” is you’re going to repeat something because they’re not doing it. So here, “I would have you know,” and this is not giving them new information, but reminding them something that’s not being put into practice.

“I would have you know, brethren,” and that had to come as a relief to the church at Galatia. After the severity of verses 6 to 10, declaring them in the process of deserting God, submitting to teachers who were under the curse of God, not to say, “I would have you know, brethren.” He calls them those who are joined with him in the family of God. Paul, in spite of the seriousness of their situation, has a confident hope that they have genuinely believed in Christ. And so there is warmth here. And what he is saying comes out of a love for them and a recognition that they are part of the family of God, the body of Christ. And we noted eight or nine times through the letter Paul addresses them as brethren. And it brings an element of warmth to an otherwise very harsh and severe letter.

“I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man.” Wants to draw attention to the gospel. This is the issue: the corruption of the gospel, which he preached, that was taking place at Galatia. There is an emphasis on the word gospel, here, “the gospel which I preached to you.” Well, the verb translated “which I preached” is another form of the word gospel. So, you get the sense in English with the same word being repeated, “the gospel which I gospeled to you.” Now ‘which I preached to you” gives you the idea, but you see the word gospel is repeated again. “The gospel which I gospeled to you,” I want to put the emphasis on the gospel here. And that gospel, the gospel, which I declared to you, is the gospel that I am talking about.

It was summarized in verse 4 when he said it was Christ “who gave himself for our sins, that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” The work of Christ in His self-sacrifice was to rescue us from this present evil age. And anything that would imply or declare that the work of Christ is not enough, is not all that is necessary to rescue us from this present evil age, is an attack on the sufficiency of the work of Christ. So the gospel which I preached to you.

Paul refers to this gospel in couple of different ways. I Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9 he calls it the gospel of God because God is the author. I Thessalonians chapter 2, verse 8, “Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but our own lives also.” In other words Paul’s saying, “I didn’t hold back anything. I gave everything I had in bringing the gospel of God to you.”

You note, he calls it the gospel of God. The end of verse 9, “we proclaim to you the gospel of God.” It’s the gospel of God because God is the author of the gospel. Over in I Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 2, “and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s fellow worker in the gospel of Christ.” Here it’s called the gospel of Christ. Same gospel. It’s the gospel that was given by God the Father. It is the gospel, which is about Jesus Christ. He is the content of the gospel.

Both these concepts are put together in the first three verses of Romans chapter 1. You don’t need to turn there but Paul refers to the gospel of God concerning His Son. At the end of verse 1 he refers to the gospel of God and at the beginning of verse 3 of Romans 1 he says, “concerning His Son.” So the gospel of God is concerning His Son, Jesus Christ. We have truth from God. That truth from God centers on His Son, Jesus Christ, who He is and what He has accomplished in providing our redemption.

Now back in Galatians chapter 1 Paul says, this gospel, which he preached, “was not according to man.” It was not of human origin. It was not devised and thought up by man. It was not a human concept and a human idea. It didn’t come from man. In fact, it’s contrary to the thinking of man, as we will see later on, which creates a real conflict in the proclamation of the gospel. What Paul is establishing here is the gospel which he has is of utmost importance because it’s not of human origin or human device.

Now what he does in verse 12 is reiterate the idea and make the point very clear. “For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it.” In other words, nobody came to me and said, “Paul, here is the gospel. Now pass it on.” No one sat down and explained to me the gospel and taught it to me. Remember in Acts chapter 18 the man Apollos was a powerful preacher, but he only knew about the baptism of John. He did not understand the gospel of the finished work of Christ. So Priscilla and Aquila took Apollos aside and explained to him the gospel. That never happened to the Apostle Paul. He wasn’t taught it; he didn’t receive it from human sources.

“But I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” And that simple declaration which is the positive statement in contrast to, “It wasn’t form man. I didn’t receive it from man. I wasn’t taught it by man.” Those are the negative side. The positive side: I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Revelation was the key, a key concept and the Galatians, we’re here to, you know the ABC’s, we’re here at the A. It’s just the very, very basic initial stuff that the message I preach about Jesus Christ came to me from God Himself. It was a revelation. Now the book of Revelation is named because it is an apocalypse. Sometimes we refer to the Book of Revelation as the Apocalypse because the Greek word for revelation is apocalypse. So here, Paul uses that word. I received it though an apocalypse, if you will, of Jesus Christ, a revelation, something made known from heaven and by the virtue of the fact that it is made known from heaven, it has the authority of God associated with it. It is something that man would not discover or develop if left to himself. So revelation makes known something of God, His character, His will, His plan, thus it has God’s authority associated with it. And it gives us information that would not be available to us otherwise.

Now we talk about the matter of revelation, I want to expand the concept a little bit, because what is wrong at the Galatian church is that they’re letting go of the very basic foundational issue. Now, for us to say, God has revealed Himself and the gospel is a revelation we’d say, “Yes, we agree to that.” Well, that’s fine. But Paul says to the Galatians, “I would have you know, brethren. I want to go back over the gospel that I preached is not of human origin. It’s a revelation from God.” Now the problem is what does that mean?

Well, let me back up first and say something about revelation. When we talk about revelation, there are two kinds of revelation from God. There’s what we call general revelation or natural revelation. That’s the revelation of God in creation. God has made Himself known through the creation. Back up to Romans chapter 1, if I might stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance as Peter says. In Roman’s chapter 1 verse 18 we read, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” So God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against the sin of men, “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.” They are the recipients of God’s wrath because in their heart they know about God. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, they became futile (or empty) in their speculations, their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God” for the worship of creation.

Now you note here, God’s divine nature, His attributes are clearly seen in the creation, the marvelous order, its beauty, its complexity, all declare the power and wisdom of the God who created it. I’ve heard people say, “Well, I don’t believe He did.” Well, you know God holds them accountable because He says in their heart and mind they really know that God had to do this.

Now if Paul could write this 2000 years ago, how much more true is it today? With our abilities to plumb the complexities of the creation, to know the complexity of a cell, to know the marvel of the DNA structure and genetics, to know something of the vastness of space and the universes and the galaxies and all that’s there? All reveal His invisible attributes; His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen. But even though they know Him as God they will not acknowledge Him. That’s the revelation of God in creation, general revelation or natural revelation, the revelation through nature.

Turn back to the Old Testament, to the book of Psalms chapter 19 verse 1. “The heavens are telling of the glory of God. Their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, night to night reveals knowledge.” Note it just goes on, day and night all the time, the declaration of the glory of God and the marvel of the work that He has done in creating everything. “Day to day pours forth speech, night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor ore there words; their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, their utterances to the end of the world.” In other words, there’s no place where this revelation of God is not present. In the darkest most pagan recesses of this world people are confronted with the reality of the creation. They look up and see the stars and the heavens they see the marvel of birth, creation round them. Nobody is without knowledge, general revelation, the revelation in creation. You never meet or talk to a person who does not know that there is a God and this God is majestic and powerful and wise and so on. But you meet people who refuse to acknowledge it because if they do they would have to say; “I’ll have to bow before that God. He is my maker.” And the prophets in the Old Testament declared that because of sin men will not do that. Now that’s general revelation.

While you’re still in Psalm 19 you’ll note verse 7. We pick up with what is called special revelation. Special revelation is the revelation that God gives as spoken word where He verbally has revealed Himself. So you read verse 7 of Psalm 19, “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord, the commandment of the Lord, and so on.” There we are talking about special revelation, the verbal revelation God has given of Himself. It includes what is now our Bible. In fact, um, creation revelation, general revelation, is found everywhere. Special revelation is limited to this book. All of special revelation is contained in the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation we have the special revelation of God, God’s verbal revelation of Himself.

Just to note, there is enough revelation in creation to condemn a person, but not enough to save a person because the revelation of creation reveals God. It does not unfold the personal sin of man. It does not reveal the necessity of a substitute who would come as the Son of God and die on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and be raised from the dead. So there’s not enough revelation in creation to save a person. But there is enough revelation in creation to condemn a person. You say, “Well, that’s hardly fair.” Well, it’s enough to reveal we’re all sinners. And we are in rebellion against God. We sometimes say, “Well, what if there is someone someplace who sees in the creation God revealing Himself and wants to know more about this God.” It never happens. It never happens. How do I know? God says so, Romans 1 among other places. “There is none who seeks after God, no not one,” in Romans 3. “They have all turned aside.”

So we create a hypothetical case. Now, anybody who is responding is responding because of the call of God in drawing them, ultimately to hear the special revelation of the gospel of His Son. So those two go together.

Now, we’re talking about special revelation. When Paul says that he received his gospel as a revelation of Jesus Christ, he is saying God communicated the truth to him, special revelation. God spoke to him. And since God is the speaker that guarantees the accuracy of what is said and God also guarantees the accuracy of the communication of what He has said, the recording of what is said. In II Peter chapter 1 verse 21, “no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will.” That’s saying exactly the same thing as Paul said about his gospel. The gospel, which I preached, was not according to man. Now here Peter says the prophets of the Old Testament did not give their prophecy out of their own human will, “but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” God was sovereignly acting upon their will to use them to speak forth His words so that men might know what God says.

In II Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, just jot it down, “All Scripture is inspired by God,” God-breathed, literally, comes out from God. “All Scripture is God-breathed.” So, the revelation from God is God’s word given through man under the control and direction of the Spirit of God so that Paul only said in giving forth the gospel what God wanted said. So that Paul only wrote in his letters what God wanted written, so that His truth would be communicated.

Turn back to John’s Gospel chapter 14. You know this whole issue of the accuracy of the Scripture gets involved here because we’re 2000 years removed from Paul. That is to say, well Paul may have preached the revelation from God, but you know over 2000 years men probably messed it up. Well, certain things are guaranteed. In John chapter 14 verse 26 Jesus says to His disciples, and it’s the last night before He’s betrayed, crucified, “But the Helper,” John 14:26, “the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” So, some people say, “Well, you know, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John they wrote their Gospels thirty, forty, fifty years after Christ was crucified. You know, know you forget a lot of things in fifty years. You write what you thought happened but really didn’t happen. And these men brought things together the best they could remember. And they filled in some spots and so on.”

Wrong! These men had supernatural help. The Holy Spirit came and taught them and brought to their remembrance things you wouldn’t otherwise remember, with an accuracy he wouldn’t otherwise have. So that guarantees the, uh, reliability of what we have as scripture today.

Turn over to John chapter 16 verse 13. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth.” So you see it’s the work of the Holy Spirit to use these apostles as God’s spokesmen, that they might learn from God and record accurately what God wanted recorded so that we might have a message from God. So revelation has to do with God making Himself known. Inspiration has to do with the recording of what God has made known, the accuracy of that record. Now, of course, we have, well, what about the 2000 years since it was recorded and we don’t have the original manuscripts and so on. Um, no, but we have an accurate text and that’s been demonstrated over and over again. In fact, one of, uh, the leading Greek scholars, who was not himself a believer, interestingly enough, but he was perhaps the leading New Testament Greek scholar of his day said that anyone who is debating the reliability of our New Testament just does not understand the issues. Um, we have so many manuscripts and fragments of manuscripts that we are almost absolutely sure on the vast majority of our Bible on what was given originally. And where there are questions they affect no major issue or doctrine.

Now, I do this sidetrack because I want to appreciate when Paul says, “my gospel was not according to men, but I received it by revelation,” we’re saying here God has spoken to him. And through Paul He has spoken to others giving the gospel. Now that gospel, since it comes directly from God, cannot be altered by man in any way. Because if man alters what God has said, man is declaring himself what? To be greater than God. Uh, I mean, it’s not a very difficult concept. But somehow the Galatians were losing their grip on this basic truth.

Come back to Galatians chapter 1. Paul says, “I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” And I take it the revelation of Jesus Christ refers to the fact it’s a revelation about Jesus Christ. Down in verses 15 and 16 he says, “But when God, who had set me apart, even from my mother’s womb, and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me.” And you see that God called me and revealed His Son in me. So when he received the revelation of Jesus Christ it was a revelation about Jesus Christ from God the Father. That initially took place on the Damascus Road when Paul was converted in Acts chapter 9. There he came to know and understand in a direct confrontation with Christ, that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the resurrected Messiah of Israel, who had died to redeem sinners. But that revelation was followed up by a series of other revelations that God gave to Paul.

Back up a page or two to II Corinthians chapter 12, II Corinthians chapter 12 verse 1. “Boasting is necessary, though it is not profitable; but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord.” I want to talk to you about the different revelations God has given me. Look down in verse 7. “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,” so Paul’s initial revelation from God took place on the Damascus Road in Acts chapter 9. But God then spoke to Paul on other occasions. In Ephesians chapter 3 Paul says that God had revealed to him the mystery of the church. And so the details of God’s plan in building the church as the body of Christ today was given through the Apostle Paul. Paul said it was a mystery, something not before made known until God spoke it through me.

So Paul received the message of the truth concerning Christ as a revelation from God. As such it is not human in origin or character. As such it must not be altered or changed in any way. Now, this creates a difficult dilemma and conflict.

Turn back to I Corinthians chapter 1, I Corinthians chapter 1. Paul, in dealing with a similar kind of, uh, situation in that he is showing that the gospel is unique. The gospel comes directly from God and the gospel is contrary to the thinking and desires of man. And so in saying that his gospel was not according to man but was from God we have set up a conflict. Because man, in his own thinking, never would come up with the gospel. Look at I Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” There you have, in summary fashion, man’s attitude toward the message from God about His Son Jesus Christ. It is foolishness. I’ll use the word for foolishness through this section that we’ve brought over into English, it’s the word moron, something stupid, something foolish, moronic, dumb. “The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” So fallen, sinful human beings think the message about Jesus Christ as the Savior who died on the cross to save . . .is stupidity.

“But to those who are being saved it is the power of God.” You note the conflict here between those that God saves and the lost. They have a total disagreement. “For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.’ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God.” You’ll note that. Man, by his devices, by the exercise of his greatest intellects, does not come to know God. Man always devises a plan of human effort and accomplishment. Man is not satisfied with grace. He sees that man must do something. Man must earn something. In fact, we become offended when we are told that our efforts are not acceptable, that all our righteous deeds are like filthy, polluted rags in the sight of God, as Isaiah said. Man, through his wisdom, did not come to know God.

“God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.” We’ve done this repeatedly but we see the conflict. Same issue at Galatia. They’re losing their grip on the gospel. God’s plan of salvation is what? Take the gospel that I have revealed and preach it. Declare it. Now preaching’s out of style. People don’t want to hear preaching today. I mean, we’re a video age and we want . . .and on. God’s plan hasn’t changed. And man’s thinking hasn’t changed. Unregenerate men think this is stupidity, foolishness, it’s dumb. And we’re aware of that aren’t we?

If someone calls you up and says, “I want you to come down to the university and give your testimony to several of our graduating classes, sharp students, brilliant intellects. Um, but I hear you have a testimony. Come down and give it.” You know, part of what would go through our mind is, You know, hum, what am I going to say here? They’re going to think I’m an idiot! I mean, these are intelligent people and I’m going to stand up and say, ‘You know I trusted Jesus Christ as my Savior and He forgave me my sins.’”
They’re going to think, “This guy’s a jerk!” Well, I know they’re going to think it’s stupid. And you know what? That pressure has the tendency to want to make us make adjustments in the message. And when I do it I’m becoming a man-pleaser and I alter what can bring salvation to lost souls.

“God is well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. Indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
You see what’s happening? The gospel goes out so that God might call and draw the elect. To them it is the power of God. Anybody whose eyes are open to see and understand and believe that the message of Christ is a message of salvation. I’m casting myself in faith upon this Savior. They have experienced the work of God in their heart to give them that understanding. You cannot convince; you cannot logically argue fallen human beings into salvation.

There’s been some stuff written in our day by people who would be considered leading evangelicals on what a disaster it is that evangelical fundamentalists have abandoned the mind. I think we ought to be using our minds in the study of the scripture. But some of these have advocated we ought to start a “Christian Harvard”. What we need is a university of the stature of Harvard University. But it is a Christian university. And that way the world will see that Christians are intelligent and know how to use their minds, too. It can never happen. Because as soon as you bring the gospel in to that university, the world is going to say, “Morons! Morons! Trying to pretend they’re intelligent. But they’re stupid!”

So the only way I can find acceptance with the world is what? Change what the world thinks is stupid. But then I have to change the message of God. Then I can come under the curse of God and now be pleasing to men, a wretched situation.

Jump down to chapter 2 of Corinthians while you’re here. “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.” No alteration, no change in methodology, with his great mind, Paul didn’t dazzle them with his intellect. With his ability to do mighty miracles he didn’t offer that.

“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” You understand this? See the transfer that’s taken place in the churches at Galatia with the Judaizers. They have come up with an altered gospel. But those who responded in faith to that altered gospel were trusting in men not in God. And there is no salvation for those who trust in men. The evangelical church needs to take this very seriously. They’ve become very good at building crowds, at getting decisions. But only God can save a soul. And God has ordained that His salvation will come to a heart through the proclamation of the pure, simple message of His Son Jesus Christ.

You note the danger here that we do what the Pharisees did. Jesus said in Matthew 23 you go over land and sea to make a convert. Once you’ve made him a convert he’s twice the convert of hell that he was before you got to him. The danger that we inoculate people in the church, get them to make decisions, get them to feel good about themselves, be careful that they are not offended. Pretty soon they begin to think of themselves as saved. You know how hard it is to reach a person who thinks they’re saved? I’d far rather talk to a person who didn’t know which end was up. But a person who’s been raised thinking they’re saved, how do you get through to a Lutheran, a Catholic, a Baptist, uh, fill in the blank, whatever would offend you. You know, isn’t it true? So I don’t want people to come here and get inoculated and eased in so, they come. Well, now they think of themselves as saved. Now they become one of my trophies but not one of God’s. So I have to be very careful about altering the message. Otherwise their faith will rest in the wisdom of men and not in the power of God.

Let me read you one verse as we close. Look at I Thessalonians 2:13. “For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which performs its work in you who believe.”

Any wonder they said about Paul, “Oh, he writes great letters, but when you hear him preach he’s weak, he’s timid.” I dare say, if we had Paul come to speak here and he stood up. We’d have people, “Oh, yawn.” Remember Eutachus? Out the window on his head. That good preaching does it every time! It’s why Paul had nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Here’s the simplicity of the purity of the message: You are a sinner and Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on a cross to pay the penalty for your sin. He was raised in victory! You must turn from your sin and place you faith in him as your Savior. And when you do God will transform your heart and life.

There is no other message. That may seem like foolishness to you but consider carefully. It may be the wisdom of God for salvation. Consider carefully. If you will place your faith in Him, this word of God, and you note, Paul’s thankful the Thessalonians received it for what it is. They accept it by faith as God’s word, which performs its work in you who believe. We must appreciate what it means when Paul says my gospel is not according to man, but I received it by revelation of Jesus Christ. That’s the foundation we’re working from. So there can be no alterations or no changes of any kind.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the revelation You’ve given of Yourself. Thank you that it is sure that forever Your word is settled in Heaven. Lord, may we, as Your people, may we, as Your church, take seriously the purity of the gospel that’s been entrusted to our care. May we proclaim in fear and trembling with total confidence and commitment that Jesus Christ is the Savior? May we be willing to suffer embarrassment for Christ’s sake? And may we appreciate fully that the gospel is not according to man but it is a revelation from the eternal and sovereign God? And we pray in Christ’s name, Amen.